I was approached by Oxfam to go to Mali as their ambassador and get involved in their various initiatives out there. But I felt that was missing the point of using me, a musician.

When Damon was 9 he moved to Turkey for three months before settling in Aldham Essex outside Colchester in an area described by Albarn as "one of those burgeoning Thatcher experiments where they were building loads of small estates". All the shows were well received; The Guardian's music critic Alexis Petridis gave their performance at Goldsmiths college a full five stars and wrote that "Blur's music seems to have potentiated by the passing of years. Following the worldwide success of Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? the media quipped that "[Blur] wound up winning the battle but losing the war.

After studying Drama and playing in short lived synth pop outfit Two's a Crowd Albarn formed a band with Coxon which after various incarnations evolved into Blur with additional members Alex James and Dave Rowntree. Mid 1990s releases Modern Life Is Rubbish Parklife and The Great Escape helped Blur to achieve mass popularity in the UK spearheading the Britpop movement. Gorillaz are cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the Most Successful Virtual Band.